Arizona Cardinals understand reality that this could be it for their season

TEMPE, Ariz. — Obviously, the Arizona Cardinals do not want Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers to be their last of the season.

However, that does not mean they are unaware of the possibility that they have held their last Friday practice of the season and could be in the mist of their season’s final days.

“I’ve been in a bunch of these, where the last one counts and you don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday with the other teams,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “But this team has a chance to make history and that’s all we talked about all week, is the possibility of tying the franchise record for wins and let the rest of the chips fall where they may.”

The Cardinals’ path to the postseason is rather simple, if unlikely. A Cardinals win along with a New Orleans Saints loss or tie to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get Arizona in, just as a Saints loss along with a Cardinals tie.

A Cardinals loss or a Saints win, though, would mean the season ends Sunday.

“It’s strange, man,” rookie running back Andre Ellington said. “It’s been a long season and you know, just to come to an end is not something you want to do right now. You obviously want to make it to the playoffs.

“We’ve just got to handle business on Sunday and see where it goes from there.”

At the very least, the Cardinals are in a position to where their final regular season game could be for something, which has not been the case the last few seasons.

“It’s fun to have the last one count,” Arians said. “That’s what we wanted all year, for this game to matter, and it matters.”